In PAS, no conflict over hudud, Selangor MP says

By MT Webmaster On Feb 18, 2015

PAS central committee member Khalid Samad told Singapore news network Channel News Asia in an interview yesterday that all views from within his party are in support of the controversial Islamic penal code.

(Malay Mail Online) – Although Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners have yet to resolve their disagreement over hudud, the different factions in PAS remain committed to its planned implementation in Kelantan, a lawmaker from the Islamist party said.

“One thing that I have to clarify is that there is no conflict as far as the scholars and the professionals (within PAS) are concerned pertaining to the implementation of the Islamic law, be it in Kelantan or anywhere else,” Khalid, who is also PAS MP for Shah Alam, insisted.

The lawmaker was speaking to Channel News Asia on the fate of PAS after the recent death of its spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, alongside Datuk Abdul Halim Sidek, a law professor at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan and an UMNO member, and Dr Farish Noor, a Malaysian-born associate professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“As members of the Islamic party, we are committed to (its) implementation,” Khalid maintained again.

He admitted, however, there was conflict on the issue between the parties of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, but expressed confidence that the pact would nonetheless hold together, given what he described as Nik Aziz’s enduring influence over PAS.

Nik Aziz, Khalid said, had consistently advocated for PAS to remain in the coalition in opposition to Umno.

“Over my dead body!” Abdul Halim shouted as Khalid Samad was talking, referring to the words of the late DAP leader Karpal Singh who had once said that there would only be an Islamic state in Malaysia only over his dead body, a statement that illustrates the bitter contention within the coalition over the issue.

“This has been a bugbear between the three parties (of Pakatan), because they’ve not been able to agree on this,” Farish Noor said, recalling the split of the Barisan Alternatif coalition, an earlier attempt at an opposition coalition that was dissolved in 2004 following irreconcilable differences over hudud law.

“Ideologically the parties are distinct,” Farish Noor continued. “I find it difficult to see how one can reconcile the overtly secular ideology of the DAP with (PAS’) Islamist stance.”

Abdul Halim mused that with the death of Nik Aziz and the jailing of the opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, PAS might even leave the PR coalition not to join Umno, but to “go it alone”.

Hudud law has been one of the most contentious issues within the PR coalition from its formation in 2008, with PAS calling for its implementation, DAP vehemently opposing it, and PKR seemingly ambivalent to it.

For many years, tensions have risen in PAS between the party’s ulama wing of Islamic scholars, and its “professional wing” consisting of more moderate members, including Khalid.

More recently there have also been tensions within PAS between a more pro-Umno wing which flirts with an alliance with the ruling party and PasMa (standing for Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia) consisting of PAS members who want to strengthen ties with its Pakatan partners and reject the Umno.